New Board appointment and responsibilities at AGCS SE

Allianz Global Corporate & Specialty SE (AGCS) is reorganizing some roles and responsibilities in its Board of Management: From April 1 2019, current AGCS Chief Underwriting Officer Corporate Hartmut Mai will take on the Board role of AGCS Chief Regions and Markets Officer for the three AGCS strategic business units Central & Eastern Europe (CEE), Mediterranean and Africa which accounted for around a third of AGCS’s premium volume in 2018. He takes over from CEO Chris Fischer Hirs, who had overseen these areas since October 2018 on an interim basis after Andreas Berger left AGCS. Also effective April 1, Thomas Sepp, currently Head of MidCorp Business for Allianz Re, will join the AGCS Board of Management and succeed Mai as Chief Underwriting Officer Corporate, based in Munich.

In his new Board role Mai will not only manage AGCS’s business in CEE, Mediterranean and Africa together with the regional leadership team; he will also continue to oversee the Capital Solutions Line of Business, and the AGCS digital incubator initiative “Cross-functional Smart Evolution” (XSE), as well as taking on Global Broker Management. All other Corporate Lines of Business (Property, Liability, Engineering, Financial Lines and Mid Corporate) and Allianz Risk Consulting will be led by new AGCS Board Member Thomas Sepp. As a part of this change, two areas – the Alternative Risk Transfer Line of Business and Strategy & Business Development – will change reporting lines from Mai to Chief Underwriting Officer Specialty Paul O’Neill.

AGCS CEO Chris Fischer Hirs said, “I am extremely pleased that Hartmut will be taking over responsibility for one of our most important regional clusters representing a third of our premium volume. He has been the driving force behind many of AGCS’ recent advances in what we can offer globally, and has a strong track record of delivering the right solutions for clients’ needs. With Hartmut’s energetic leadership at Board level, supported by the experienced regional leadership team, we now have the right team in place to drive continued success and profitable growth in these core markets. A warm welcome to Thomas, who, with over 20 years’ experience in corporate insurance, brings a wealth of knowledge on all aspects of our business, and I look forward to working with him in his new role for AGCS.”

Amer Ahmed, CEO of Allianz Re added: “I am very grateful for the foundations that Thomas has laid and the team he has put together over the last three years with the MidCorp 2.0 initiative.  We are well placed to deliver on our aspiration for Allianz to be the leading player in this segment.  I wish him the very best in his new role at AGCS and look forward to continue working together as there will be many opportunities to share and collaborate.”

Hartmut Mai joined AGCS in 2007 as Global Head of Financial Lines, and was appointed as Chief Underwriting Officer Corporate and a Member of the Board of Management in 2011. In this role he has overseen the development and growth of AGCS’ Corporate Lines, as well as establishing the XSE function in 2018 which aims to leverage data, technology and partnerships. Before his time with AGCS, he headed the German Financial and Professional Liability team for Marsh Germany, and also spent 11 years working for AIG Europe in a variety of increasingly senior roles in both Germany and the United Kingdom, including being appointed as a Member of the Board of Management for AIG Europe from 2002 to 2006. Mai is a licensed attorney-at-law and studied law at the University of Cologne and at Emory Law School in Atlanta, USA.

Thomas Sepp joins AGCS from Allianz Re, where he has been Head of MidCorp Business since January 2018. A new ‘business pillar’ for the Group Reinsurance provider, MidCorp focuses on developing and implementing a fully digitalized business model for commercial insurance for Allianz. From 2014 to 2017, Sepp was Deputy Head of Global P&C for Allianz SE. Before joining Allianz Group, he spent five years at Zurich Insurance Group in senior leadership roles, including Chief Claims Officer, General Insurance, and Chief Operating Officer & Head of Strategy for European General Insurance, as well as leading their strategic Flood Resilience Program. Prior to that, he was a partner at McKinsey & Company assuming various management roles in their German and European Insurance Practice. He graduated in Industrial and Business Engineering at TH Karlsruhe and holds a PhD from Vienna School of Business in Austria.

Thomas Sepp’s appointment to the Board of AGCS SE is subject to regulatory approval

Allianz Global Corporate & Specialty (AGCS) is a leading global corporate insurance carrier and a key business unit of Allianz Group. We provide risk consultancy, Property-Casualty insurance solutions and alternative risk transfer for a wide spectrum of commercial, corporate and specialty risks across 12 dedicated lines of business.

Our customers are as diverse as business can be, ranging from Fortune Global 500 companies to small businesses, and private individuals. Among them are not only the world’s largest consumer brands, tech companies and the global aviation and shipping industry, but also wineries, satellite operators or Hollywood film productions. They all look to AGCS for smart answers to their largest and most complex risks in a dynamic, multinational business environment and trust us to deliver an outstanding claims experience.

Worldwide, AGCS operates with its own teams in 34 countries and through the Allianz Group network and partners in over 200 countries and territories, employing over 4,400 people. As one of the largest Property-Casualty units of Allianz Group, we are backed by strong and stable financial ratings. In 2018, AGCS generated a total of €8.2 billion gross premium globally.

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